Savant: Ascent

Savant: Ascent is a fast-paced title with a strong core gameplay loop and fairly simple concept that gradually increases in complexity the further you progress; beating Vario is not the end (closer to the midway point) and learning the game systems (more precisely, the CD unlocks) is the key to true success.

Starting off anchored between two points with the option to dash between or jump over to each point your first form of offensive is a simple missile barrage, which is effective for your first story run, as more CD pieces are collected so too does your move-set grow and the ability to properly beat the game will open up to you. Beating the Samurai certainly rewards the player with a great deal of satisfaction as well as the knowledge that they've truly mastered what the game has to offer.

Chances are most people who play Savant: Ascent will be familiar with Savant and while that certainly isn't necessary to get enjoyment out of the title, it does add an additional level of charm especially knowing Aleksander himself has a passion for games.

Savant is the alias of a Norwegian electronic artist Aleksander Vinter, and it's no surprise that he has provided his on-stage likeness as well as the music for the game. A Malicious Orb has cast Savant out of his tower, and Savant begins his ascent back to the top, destroying the enemies on his way up. It's a pretty short ascent though; he only needs to make his way through 3 screens. The brevity of the game is reflected in the price, only £1.59 on Steam; so it's very much a budget title.

The mechanics of the game are simple. You press 'A' or 'D' to move left or right, and there are only two positions to stand in each screen. 'Z' leaps between the platforms which is used when enemies charge at you horizontally. Shooting Savant's magical blasts is done with the mouse, simply aim the reticule and use the left mouse button to attack.

Although I didn't feel the need to dodge other than to utilise Savant's abilities, dodging is vital against the final boss because he attacks both horizontally and vertically.

Your health meter contains 3 hearts and you lose a heart when an enemy collides with you. If you lose all hearts, you restart from the start of the current stage should you choose to continue.

Fodders are the most frequent enemies in the game and have low health. Ironcopters and Bluebladers appear in the second stage and pose more of a threat. They have higher HP and can be trickier to dodge once they charge. Wyrms have high health and will slowly glide towards you. You need to time your dodge to avoid them or use the Super Blast which causes them to retreat.

Golden Fodders have high health but do not attack. They drop parts of a CD when killed. Collecting four parts completes the CD which unlocks a new music track and a new ability. It doesn't seem possible to complete the game without some of these abilities. There's one move that fires several bullets after dodging, and the Super Blast which is a powerful attack that seems vital to keep the enemy numbers down. The CDs also give you a bonus score of 100,000. You cannot collect the same Golden CD twice; once the piece is collected, it will turn blue for all subsequent runs.

Your first job in the game is to get used to the mechanics and try and collect the CD pieces. Once you have a couple of abilities, you should be able to clear the first stage with ease and have a better chance of seeing the game to the end.

Once you complete the game, Time Attack and Endless modes become available which pose a different type of challenge.

I quite enjoyed my time playing Savant – Ascent. It's obviously short and simple, but it never claimed to be any more than that. There is at least an hours fun here, and if you like electronic/dubstep music, then you could argue the price alone is worth it for the soundtrack (which is in Ogg format in the install directory).